Dragon #382 - More Toys for the Assassin

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The new Assassins article is up:
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (More Toys for Assassins)

The article finally contains actual Ki Focusses and two Assassin Muliticlass feats, as well as additional feats for Heroic, Paragon and Epic. The heroic tier feats are all racial, focusing on races that haven't gotten any Assassin related feats yet.

Interesting stuff for Ki Focuses:
- You can use them as implements (only) for classes that use them as implements.
- You can use them with any weapon you are proficient with if you can use them as implement.

Since Assassin multiclass feats (and probably also Psion and Monk?) grant you access to Ki Focusses, multiclassing with them might be an interesting choice for anyone that wants to be less dependent on a particular weapon. That will typically be a flavor choice, but I am sure someone can figure out a way to combine the best weapon powers of the Fighter,a Ki Focus and a golfbag of weapons to create a new powergaming build.

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

Personally, my favorite part about Ki Focuses is that improvised weapons scale with level (i.e. they don't fall behind due to lack of enhancement bonuses). That means your assassin can kill someone with a teacup.

All you'd need to do is stack a little extra +attack to make sure your to hit isn't *too* crippled, and you have a viable character who can beat anyone to death with a pillow!

 

[Destil]

All of the weapon master feats from earlier this month come to mind.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Personally, my favorite part about Ki Focuses is that improvised weapons scale with level (i.e. they don't fall behind due to lack of enhancement bonuses). That means your assassin can kill someone with a teacup.

All you'd need to do is stack a little extra +attack to make sure your to hit isn't *too* crippled, and you have a viable character who can beat anyone to death with a pillow!

Yup.

All of the weapon master feats from earlier this month come to mind.

Yup.

 

[Rechan]

Personally, my favorite part about Ki Focuses is that improvised weapons scale with level (i.e. they don't fall behind due to lack of enhancement bonuses). That means your assassin can kill someone with a teacup.

What pleases me is that an attack with an improvised weapon isn't just a basic attack. (I play a character who has used improvised attacks twice, and I suck because I have terrible str).

There's a specific Ki Focus item I've been wanting to make ever since I heard about them, but I'm still having some trouble finding a good property/power to correspond.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

Gnolls are going to seriously kick ass as assassins.

And "Resolve of the Iron Terminator" has my vote for best-named 4E feat.

 

[Destil]

Gnolls are going to seriously kick ass as assassins.

And "Resolve of the Iron Terminator" has my vote for best-named 4E feat.

Yeah, the gnoll feat is crazy. Are they in PHB2?

 

[LightPhoenix]

The Gnoll had an official write-up in Dragon 367.

 

[renau1g]

Yeah the gnoll feat is crazy, but it makes no sense in their fluff... why are they so good as assassins? They're getting far better feat support than the changeling (who should be the penultimate assassin with change shape +2 on bluff (which their feat doesn't even make any sense, my bluff is likely just as good as stealth, and how can I use stealth to use Changeling's Feint, it just makes no goddamn sense at all)

 

[WalterKovacs]

Yeah the gnoll feat is crazy, but it makes no sense in their fluff... why are they so good as assassins? They're getting far better feat support than the changeling (who should be the penultimate assassin with change shape +2 on bluff (which their feat doesn't even make any sense, my bluff is likely just as good as stealth, and how can I use stealth to use Changeling's Feint, it just makes no goddamn sense at all)

Well, the assassin's thing is hiding and killing, not bluffing (although a changeling has tons of help for rp'ing an assassin ... and a ki focused changeling assassin is someone that can get into a place, find a weapon, and just go to town. However, all assassins are trained in stealth, and dex is the primary stat. They can choose to have equal charisma and dex, and they can choose to be trained in bluff ... but they can just as easily focus more on stealth and the feat allows for that. As for how it works ... an assassin blends into shadows. Shapeshifting can definitely help that. The basic concept of the changeling's feint is using the shapeshifting ability to bluff someone into granting you combat advantage ... stealth (hiding) is another way to get combat advantage, and one that fits more into an assassin's M.O.

As for the gnoll ... they have Dex and Con. Assassin is the only class they have that fits them "perfectly" statwise. The chameleon, with he choice of stats, has bards, sorcerors, rogues, etc ... They make an intersting type of asassin, but fit a niche of "hide in plain sight" assassin, compared to the hide in the shadows type they seem to be going for.